Saturday, November 03, 2012

Bounty Hunter by Kate Lynd

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Slopjar by Ingrid Jennings



CANDLELIGHT

And as I lay down to sleep,

I felt that dream that burdens my soul,

so softly it tiptoed in,

I could see its apparition whisk by my body

-in my long-lost dream.

The dream once lost came back to haunt.

For days I never knew what peace was like.

So here I slumber,

I slumber in light

because I’m scared with fright

of this mysterious ghost haunting my dreams.

Dreams of flowers,

dreams of bliss,

dreams of this thing 

coming out at night.

So I slumber in light.

The light of a candle burning on my chest,

please put me to rest

and rid me of this pest.

And here I slumber,

 in the light of the fire, 

undisturbed by all spirits’ desires.

And the apparition of smoke so softly whisks by my bed,

the flames of the candle dance in its presence.

I have been frightened, so I burn my candle at night.

And my candle burns each night and blazes so high.

And me—

I lie,

seeking a restful night,

undisturbed by any little fright.

Until I awaken in a hospital bed,

Thank God for men of fire.

They came in the night and rescued my soul,

they saved my flesh from the flames of the night. 


Slopjar
Ingrid Jennings

Genre: Poetry

Publisher: Lioness Publishing House

ISBN: 978-0985696047
ASIN: B008Q3DHLM

Number of pages: 138
Word Count: 9,122

Cover Artist: Gaelyn Larrick


Book Description:

This is a book of poetry that will truly touch your soul. Indulge in the words of a lonely lunatic full of laughter, love, lust, Lucifer, and the Lord. 

Escape into a world of profound, seductive words that will melt your soul like butter. 

Escape into an insane mind and learn the trials of a battered soul. 

Fall into the trap of this astonishing book that will pull at the strings of your heart. 

Immerse yourself in the pure pleasure of this dazzling work of art. 

Open up the Slopjar.

About the Author:

Originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, Ingrid Jennings is what one would call a true Lioness. As a wife and a mother, she is loyal and a protector. As a publishing guru, she is a team player and works with her clients toward their success. As a teacher, she is passionate about education, and as a business woman, she is always on the hunt for new opportunities to learn and grow. She wears many hats and handles each situation in stride and with ease.

        With a B.S. in biology and chemistry from Palm Beach Atlantic Christian University, Ingrid decided to go a step further, to get a step closer to her true passion by excelling with her masters degree in reading education from Nova Southeastern University.
       
Ingrid spent three years working as a public school teacher in Palm Beach County, teaching integrated science to ninth graders. While teaching, Ingrid self-published her poetry into her first book titled SlopjarSlopjar recieved rave reviews not only for its creativity, excellent writing, and self expression but also for the excellence of its publishing and marketing. Through the experience and knowledge gained while publishing and marketing her own book, Ingrid gained an appreciation for the inner workings of the publishing world and ultimately birthed her own publishing company Lioness Publishing House.


Twitter @ingridmjennings




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Friday, November 02, 2012

Guest Blog and Giveaway with Lilly Cain



Thank you for having me here today, Roxanne! Today I am celebrating the recent release of the first of my fun, erotic, contemporary romance short stories from Carina Press. The series is called Bad Girls Know… and book one is No Reservations. No Reservations just released on October 29. I hope you and your readers will celebrate with me!

I guess we all have someone that we remember from our younger days, someone who stirred us up, but who we never really had the opportunity to connect with. I know I did. I love it when in my stories I can take a moment where I can imagine what it would be like to finally make that connection. That’s a pretty big perk for a writer, LOL.

Here’s a bit from the first meeting between Alicia and Travis in No Reservations, after they haven’t seen each other for years. Too bad that Alicia has other plans in mind than just a simple deal, or even a one night stand. She’s practicing being a bad girl, but for her, it isn’t the best fit.

She saw him across the airport bar. The boy she’d known in college was gone, replaced by a man. He looked damn good and still gave her that warm feeling in the center of her core. The desire she’d never indulged, at least not with him. Wide shoulders and a trim waist balanced the urban flair of his Hugo Boss suit so that he still looked more like a jock than the shrewd businessman he’d become. A strong jaw line emphasized a hint of five o’clock shadow but his short brown hair had been expertly cut. He leaned against the bar with a beer in hand, a travel bag at his feet. He scanned the room, probably looking for her. The moment his gaze fell on her, a flush of heat spread from her breasts all the way to her fingertips and toes. Some things never changed.
Stay calm. You’re ready for this. They’d already agreed on a trade, and if he didn’t realize the cards were stacked against him, well, too bad. He should know that there was often more than one agenda in any negotiation. She was dressed to kill and ready to go. Her tailored suit was a deep sapphire, businesslike, almost severe, except that the skirt left her legs exposed to mid thigh. She wore no stockings; her feet were bare in her black open-toed heels.
She was used to power now. She’d pushed herself hard and garnered enough support, and a partner, to finance her private passenger and shipping business. Owning three small jets at this point in her life was proof of her strength, her talent. She was not giving into nerves now.
She strode toward him, felt his gaze flicker over her. They’d never finished things at Michigan State. The one time she’d made an approach, he’d ignored her completely. His lack of an answer, one way or another, left things…incomplete. Since her divorce, she’d made a point of finishing things, and of staying on the winning side.
“Alicia. You haven’t changed a bit. Still beautiful as ever.”
“Travis.” She swept her eyes over him.
He grinned, the expression reminding her of how many times he’d won one of their friendly competitions and how much she’d wanted to wipe the smirk right off his face. Half the time she hadn’t been sure if she wanted to smack him or kiss him; in the past she’d done neither. Time to take control, keep him off balance.
She shook his hand briskly and took charge of their meeting with a sweep of her hand. “Let’s have a seat. Have you got something for me?”
“Boy, that sounds like something out of a spy novel, don’t you think?” His words held a teasing note and she held back a grin of her own, and the desire to lick her lips.
Damn, he’s sexy when he teases.

What about you? Would you like to meet up with someone from years ago? Could you imagine taking it a lot further than a simple facebook link, like in No Reservations? Drop me a comment and you could win an ebook copy of my story.




No Reservations
Bad Girls Know Book 1       
Lilly Cain

Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Publisher: Carina Press   

ASIN: B008O53RD0

Number of pages: 44
Word Count: 15,000


Book Description:

Travis Morgan is thrilled to encounter the one woman who's never failed to get his blood pumping. Seeing Alicia Davis again brings it all back: their fierce academic rivalry, and the fact that he never followed through on his erotic fantasies about her.
Alicia can't resist Travis's smoldering sensuality--or the opportunity to finally bed the man who starred in so many of her lustful daydreams in college. Unable to avoid the temptation to best Travis one more time, Alicia plans to submit to one night of pure pleasure and then leave Travis empty-handed and craving more.

When Travis wakes up and realizes Alicia's played him, the gloves are off, and the game heats up as they each try to emerge on top--by whatever means necessary...


Author Bio:

Lilly Cain is a wild woman with a deep throaty laugh, plunging necklines and a great lover of all things sensual - perfume, chocolate, silk! She never has to worry about finding a date or keeping a man in line. She keeps her blond hair long and curly, wears beautiful clothes and loves loud music. Lilly lives her private life in the pages of her books.

Lilly lives in Atlantic Canada, although she spent eight years in Bermuda, enjoying the heat and the pink sands. She returned to her homeland so she could see the changing of the seasons once again. When not writing she paints, swills coffee and vodka (but not together), and fights her writing pals for chocolate.

When not living up to her pen name, Lilly is a single mom who loves reading and writing, dabbling in art and loving and caring for her two daughters. She loves romance and the freedom erotic fantasy provides her imagination. She loves the chilling moments in her novels as much as the steaming hot interludes. Her stories are an escape and a release, and she hopes that they can give you that power, too.

www.lillycain.com

www.twitter.com/LillyCain

www.facebook.ca/Lilly_Cain

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3345994.Lilly_Cain

Character Interview Mad World by Samaire Provost




Character Interview: Risa

Risa, how are you all doing now?

Not so good, to tell you the truth. This has been a very hard journey. I can’t believe what we’ve been through. But we’re tough, we can take it. We’re great fighters. It’s just the one time we were so overwhelmed… it was like an ambush.  We fought like crazy, but…  

But?

But it wasn’t good enough.  Bad things happened.  I… I’d rather not talk about them right now.

I understand.  Thinking back on the journey from Tennessee to Winnipeg, do you have any advice for anyone else making that same trip?

Bring lots of weapons, good friends who know how to fight, and if possible, don’t make any trips. We did because we had no choice.  The government was hunting us, literally.  They wanted my little brother.  They were going to kill him with their idiotic, useless experimenting. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, citizens are kinda on their own.  The government was and still is doing whatever it wants, and you have no rights.  You have to take care of yourself and your family, and don’t count on much help from anybody else.

You were running for your lives, weren’t you?

Yes, we were.  And we almost didn’t make it.  First that creep Stanley betrayed us and nearly got us caught. I mean, he helped Jake escape and gave them a false story, so I guess he helped us in the end, but man.  What a creep to do it in the first place.  I don’t like that guy.  Then we had to deal with this unreal situation at this farmhouse.  We barely escaped this crazed guy.  Then the journey through the caves.  It was unreal.  And through it all we had to keep Luke safe.  Not only because he’s our family, but also because he’s special.

Special? How?

He just is.  The way he was born, and because of the zombies. Really, he may be the hope of the world. I don’t know for sure, but if you met him, if you knew him, you’d realize. Luke’s very, very special. Important.

How’s your mother Alyssa doing? We heard there’d been some accident? Is she okay?

Yes, she’s fine. Well, no, she’s not. But yes, she is. Um… no comment.

Tell us about Jonathan

*blush* Well…  …he’s wonderful J  We rescued him from the farmhouse where he’d been trapped and kind in over his head.  We hit it off right away.  He’s kind of the sensitive type, and he writes such beautiful poetry.  I’m more like a tough chick.  I’ve been called “ninja” before… I can’t help it; growing up in this world with this infection… you kinda have to toughen up quite a bit.  Jonathan loved that about me.  Which was good, because I love how sweet and sensitive he is, he’s a complete contrast to me? After we got to Winnipeg, he decided to stick around; he’d bonded to my family and had no place to go… We kind of became close pals, then it grew to something more.  We’re a couple now.  We fight for the Sanctuary team together now, side by side.  


Mad World: SANCTUARY
Mad World Book 2
Samaire Provost

Genre:YA Paranormal

ISBN: 978-1479220090
ASIN: B0093RSLUW

Number of pages: 212 pages
Word Count: 59,780 words

Book Description:

The year is 2017, and the Black Plague infection has swept across most of the United States, leaving death and chaos in its wake. Martial law is the rule rather than the exception, with outbreaks cropping up when they're least expected. Alyssa and her friends must not only battle outbreaks of the disease, but also find themselves pursued by government agents – men and women determined to track them down at any cost.

Fleeing north to the fabled Sanctuary, Alyssa, Jacob, DeAndre, Caitlyn, Risa and Luke face disturbing ordeals and terrible tragedy as they encounter unbelievable situations in their struggle to reach safety. Using their skills and wits in their fight to survive against ever worsening odds, they weather hardship, betrayal, and the ever-present specter of death as they flee north, all the while vowing to protect one another – and most of all their precious 5-year-old Luke, from a world gone mad.

Sanctuary, the second installment in the Mad World series, is a heart-rending adventure of astonishing revelations, tragic discoveries, agonizing separations and devastating losses that test these friends to their limits. With heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat suspense at every turn, this is a story you will not be able to put down.

Find out what happens next.




Mad World: EPIDEMIC
By Samaire Provost

Mad World  Book One
Genre: YA Paranormal Dystopian

ISBN:  978-1478317371
ASIN:  B008PO969O

Number of pages:  160
Word Count:   44,700

Book Description:

The Black Plague is ancient history. It killed 100 million people nearly seven centuries ago, halfway around the world from the technologically advanced research center at Stanford University. Scientists there have recently begun examining samples of bone marrow from plague-infected corpses unearthed in Europe. All the necessary safeguards are in place. What could go wrong?

Alyssa and Jake are away with their class on a highly anticipated year-end trip to Broadway with their senior acting class when all hell breaks loose at home. Traveling back, and trying to find their families, they encounter deadly results. Riots are breaking out. People are being evacuated. And they have no idea what's happening to their families.

Horrific ordeals, heart-pounding tragedy, and chance encounters harden them for what lies ahead. Faced with tormenting decisions, they're forced to follow their instinct for survival at any cost - even when the cost is a heart-wrenching decision of life or death.

A harrowing adventure of frightening discoveries, horrifying confrontations and narrow escapes in Epidemic, the first installment of the Mad World series.
Find out what's got everyone so terrified.

Kindle      Paperback

About the Author:

Samaire Provost lives in California with her husband and son.

Her love of paranormal stories, odd plots, and unique tales as well as the works of Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, Madeleine L'Engle and Stephen King has deeply influenced her writing. 



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Interview with B Jane Lawson





1. What inspired you to become an author?  

A combination of things – I’ve always had a storyline in my head, characters, scenes that have played out.  I’m a very passionate reader and one day I realized that I wanted to take the plunge and try to give back to the “book community” and tell Morganna’s story.

2. Do you have a specific writing style?  

I’d characterize my style as a combination of fast-action plot and nearly existential first person introspection.  I like the juxtaposition of having this character who is going through this deeply intimate inner journey whilst fighting this radical, magickal war.


3.  How did you come up with the title for your latest book?  

In the first book, Morganna has come To the Cliffside both literally and figuratively.  In Over the Cliff’s Edge she’s taken the plunge into exploring her Magick, her relationships with others, and, I don’t want to spoil anything here, but does something wildly out of character at the end of the second book that I believe will leave readers scratching their head.

4. Do you title the book first or wait until after it’s complete?  

For the first one, it didn’t come until the book was done, for the second, it felt inevitable.


5. What book are you reading now?

 I think I’m going to revisit my introduction into the genre – Dead until Dark was my very first paranormal romance / urban fantasy and I think re-reading it will be like visiting an old friend.

6.  What books are in your to read pile? 

Iced by Karen Marie Moning, The Shattered Dark by Sandy Williams, The Casual Vacancy JKRowling

7.  What is your current “work in progress” or upcoming projects? 

 I’m currently working on the third and final novel in the series.  I haven’t officially named it yet, but I’ve got it saved on my computer under the working name “Cork”



8. Do you have to travel much to do research for your books?  

For this book series, many trips to Northern California were on my docket.  I traveled to Dublin in May for inspiration and I was not disappointed.  Some of the third book will take place in Ireland, it’s one of those places that really oozes with magic, tangibly so. Riding the DART along the Irish Sea, foamy green waves lapping at a shore dotted with hues of yellow and pink wild flowers made me feel transported.

Over the Cliff’s Edge
Book 2 of the Morganna Cork Series
B. Jane Lawson

Genre: Paranormal Romance

ISBN: 978-1479295210
ASIN: B0099AWZLO

Number of pages: 186
Word Count: 42,326



Book Description:

Morganna Cork has survived her first month in Puesta Del Sol. A month in which she discovers she’s part of the Magick community filled with shifters, psychics, werewolves and individuals with myriad other powers.

Her estranged aunt, Aiofe, has returned to take control of the Magick Council, the Cliffside Inn, and the sacred stones that her cousin Maeve and she hold in their possession.

With the help of a mysterious magical historian, Morganna learns that she is at the center of this Magick battle and that Aiofe will stop at nothing to get her hands on an ancient family heirloom and Morganna.

The romantic tension between Morganna Stone and werewolf pack leader, Callupo Stone, reaches its breaking point as the Cliffside Inn is under siege and they navigate their way through the betrayals and dangers of this war.


About the Author:

B. Jane Lawson lives in Los Angeles where she is a business woman by day, writer by night and cyclist on the weekends. Her obsessions include Starbucks soy chai lattes, fashion, and music.

She has had a life long love affair with novels of all kinds. B. Jane's favorite genres include paranormal romance, historical fiction and true crime. Her favorite authors include Amy Tan, Karen Marie Moning, Pat Conroy, Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling. She loves to travel and her dream vacation is a safari in Africa.



Twitter: @bjanelawson

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Release Day Blitz The Valkyrie’s Guardian by Moriah Densley



Hi, Roxanne. Greetings to a fellow red-head and night owl! Thank you so much for hosting me today.

Thanks Moira I'm always thrilled to have new authors on the site. Tell readers a bit about yourself. What inspired you to become an author?

I think most authors are voracious readers who decide to turn an idea into a project. That’s my story too. I got started and couldn’t stop - I wrote five novels that first year, and didn’t burn out. (The first wave of rejection letters did that *smirk*) Reading is still my first love, but there’s also nothing like creating your own world. Not to mention the borderline schizophrenia, voices in your head…

Do you write in different genres?

Yes. The Valkyrie’s Guardian is my first paranormal release. Song for Sophia, my historical debut, finaled in the 2012 RWA Golden Heart contest and released June 2012 from Crimson Romance.

Which is your favorite genre to write?

Paranormal or historical - chocolate mousse or key lime? Depends on my mood, and it’s refreshing to do something else if I stall out on a project.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Cassiopeia feels like a loser surrounded by fabulous shiny people. She flunked out of her residency, has no impressive superpowers, missed out on the immortality gene, and is hopelessly in love with her bodyguard. Thinking she has nothing to lose, she gives all she has. That’s where she finds fulfillment: in being selfless.

Is the book, characters, or any scenes based on a true life experience, someone you know, or events in your own life?

The idea for The Valkyrie’s Guardian came to me while I was waterskiing at Lake Powell, my family’s perennial vacation spot in Arizona. The only thing I do impressively on a ski is wipe out, but I got a kick out of watching the pros. I saw some crazy stunts  and it made me think “What if?” I’d already been researching Celtic and Norse mythology, so it occurred to me a berserker would have a ball with water sports. The Barney Fife-inspired park ranger required little embellishment.

What books/authors have influenced your life?

I love a book that not only transports me to another world, but also changes the way I think. A truly prolific book stays with you, haunting and inspiring you long after you’ve finished.
A few books in my zombie apocalypse survival kit:


Can you share a little of your current work with us?

You bet! I’m having a blast with my “geekfest,” which is what happens when the hero and heroine meet on a university campus. Kyros Vassalos, the “boss” à la Professor Xavier of X-Men, is a three-centuries-old Greek warrior/physicist with the power to alter electromagnetism. He meets his match in Lyssa Logan, a sassy crime-fighting violinist who doesn’t even know she’s a rare “extra-sentient” with extraordinary power. Here’s the opening scene, where Kyros unexpectedly finds what he’s been searching three hundred years for:

Kyros Vassalos almost ignored the sound, but the reverb made him pause.

It couldn’t be.

Yes - one mind in the crowd, echoing an unfiltered pastiche of every mental voice in its twenty-foot radius. Nearby, definitely on campus. A signature so staggering, he paused mid-sentence and dropped the marker. It made an unsightly line through the formula scribbled beneath his hand.

“Class dismissed,” he mumbled, leaving a roomful of bewildered physics students as he dashed out the door.

He couldn’t walk; he tried not to bowl people over as he ran through hallways and across the lawn, vaulted over a wall and cut through a maintenance yard. Kyros honed in on the signal, searching for the source: someone like himself, not quite human. Extra-sentient.
He felt her energy as he drew closer. It had an electric edge which reacted with the proximity of his, giving him a bizarre giddy feeling. Kyros bustled through the exit and bounded down the stairwell, eager for the sight of her, his hope warring with expectation. Practically impossible in the first place, this was probably some sad mistake—
Then he saw her. The panicked feeling evaporated. It seemed time and space expanded, a perception his brain manufactured as a defense mechanism against shock.

Amidst droves of silly girls dressed to exploit their bodies and painted like Parisian whores: a lady. Mia kyría, a donna. Refreshingly innocent, old-world lovely, the embodiment of grace—

Then she tossed her head back and laughed, giving a view straight down her gullet, as American women are prone to do. Chesty, boisterous - not a dainty sound. But sincere and contagious, he conceded, allowing himself a smile.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Yes. My “artistic temperament.” I get obsessed with a WIP and write nonstop for days, even weeks on end, then burn out for a while. I envy those methodical, steady writers with shiny organized plots. (Incurable pantser here.)

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Charlotte Brontë was a mad genius. Exquisite imagery and characterization, emotional drama and shocking controversy that scandalized our Victorian grandmamas – romantic Gothic horror at its best.

Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that you think represents this book?

Music for water skiing? Navy SEAL operations? Hand-to hand combat with an enraged valkyrie? Easy. Queue your favorite metal or techno tracks.

Recall Jack MacGunn is a “true blue kilt-wearing, pipe-playing Scot.” Traditional Celtic music appeals to me; I even bought uilleann pipes and learned to play them as part of the research. Jack’s music plays a big role in the story and has a symbolic meaning to Cassie, the heroine.

This is a flashback, Cassie’s first memory of Jack:

She remembered sitting up and taking in the rustic sight of a log fire burning in the hearth, of homespun rugs covering the rough-hewn wooden floor. A sound wafted from another room, and she had to concentrate to identify it. Music—strange tones, rising and falling in patterns foreign to her ears.

Cassie followed the silvery vibrations as though beckoned. The source proved to be a woodsy, reedy voice that filled the air with tangible resonance. How could an instrument make a sound like a human voice, a mythical place, and a painful memory all at once?

Jack’s hair was lighter and longer then, it hung in unruly waves over his face as he leaned into the music. He wore torn and dirty camo fatigue pants, and she still recalled the pungent smoke smell from the burned spots in the fabric and his singed hair. The largest arms she’d ever seen cradled a bizarre instrument.

She watched his right elbow lift and press against his side in a ponderous rhythm, and she recognized the apparatus as a sort of bellows. Long filigreed tubes lay across his lap. His fingers slid and shook over a sort of flute held diagonally across his chest. She watched, mesmerized as the contraption produced delicious music. The same hands which had wrought violence in combat also worked with gentle skill over the delicate instrument.
She blinked, confused by the tears swimming in her eyes. The mournful ghostly music filling the room called to her. She felt utterly safe. Cassie remembered it clearly, because it had changed her. Just as his scent brought her home, his music meant safety.

Here are few of my favorite Celtic tracks that inspired the scene:





And for Jack and Cassie, this sounds like falling in love. Subtle, sentimental, and folksy – Edgar Meyer’s “Sliding Down” 


The Valkyrie’s Guardian
Moriah Densley

Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Publisher:  Crimson Romance / F+W Media

ISBN:  1440551375
ISBN13:  9781440551376

Number of pages:  300
Word Count:  91K

Book Description: 

“Augmented strength, lightning weapon, chronic PMS – you’re a valkyrie, Cass.”

You might call them superheroes. “Extra-sentients” are one in 4.5 million with the extraordinary ability to unlock the full potential of the mind.

Cassiopeia Noyon is descended from the most powerful known extra-sentient, but she’s a dud – no impressive talents except a healing ability which lands her in trouble. She’s all wrong for Jack MacGunn, her dazzling immortal berserker bodyguard.

Cassiopeia Noyon has a medical degree at age twenty-one, which makes her a total loser … for an extra-sentient with merely superhuman strength and healing powers but not much else. Cassie may not even be immortal, which is a downer since the man she’s adored since age six, is.

Jack MacGunn is King of the Bad Pick-Up Line. A true blue kilt-wearing, pipe-playing Scot descended from a long line of berserker warriors; if he’s awake, he’s either hungry or itching for a fight. Lately Jack feels lost. His career as a Navy SEAL detachment agent is on a slow train to nowhere. He suspects it has something to do with his out-of-control superhuman rages.

The one task Jack has never failed at is guarding Cassie from their enemies, but now he fears he can’t protect her from himself. Even if they could go a single day without fighting, Jack knows he’ll never be good enough for her. The boss’ granddaughter is off-limits anyway.
A chance encounter with a villain long assumed dead sends Jack and Cassie on a race to save the children secreted away at Network One, the academy for genius extra-sentients. Jack discovers a new side of Cassie when in the heat of combat she invokes unheard-of powers. Has Jack finally met his match?

Read Chapter 1 free: http://moriahdensley.com/chapter-1-the-valkries-guardian/


Excerpt

Without much effort she summoned static in the air. It gathered in her hands as she wrestled to equalize the tension between ground and sky. The shift in atmospheric energy sucked down a dull pressure she could feel in her skull and chest. The charge crackling in her fingers burned ice hot.

Cassie walked calmly to the men locked in struggle and set a hand on each of their shoulders, transferring a mild dose of purple electricity into their bodies. They jerked back and screamed. She exploited their surprise and shoved them both apart, hurling them several feet.

She heaved slow breaths to calm her anger, resisting the temptation to fry their idiotic brains. They rolled slowly and strained to sit up, mist steaming out of their collars.

“Jack. Ben. That’s enough. Look around, you morons. Is this what you want your family to see?” They glanced around and saw the somber faces watching from inside the great house, all the small ones who had just been taught a bad lesson.

“Bloody hell. What is she?” Ben muttered, wiping his split lip.

“The voice of reason.” She stood between them. “You two have to work together while we’re here. This is your clan, and you are the leaders. Now start acting like it.”

She waited while they sucked in deep breaths, trying to calm themselves from the rage.

“Do you think your family should see you shake hands, or did you mean to start a war today?”

Ben breathed an oath in Gaelic under his breath, and Jack made something pop in Ben’s hand as he squeezed. She closed her eyes in forbearance.
*             *             *
At that moment, three pagers went off. Jack, Chief, and Pops all retrieved their phones and checked the display with identical motions.

Jack said, “CO called in the whole team. It’s probably nothing, but we have to go.”

“Run like the wind,” Cassie replied flatly, as though she had no curiosity at all about his urgent summons to headquarters. “Nice meeting you, Chief, and ah, Papa Smurf. I’ll find my own way to the barracks.”

Damned if she didn’t show them her back and strut away like a tabby cat. Of course he stared, mesmerized by the dual motion of her hips and swaying hair. A draft of her honey-anise scent lingered. Catnip. “Eighteen-hundred hours, baby,” he called, a last ditch effort to claim her with the officers observing.

She spun 180 degrees and walked backward. “Sorry, I have to polish my pistol.” Chief and Pops sucked in a breath at her suggestive tone—with that purring sound in her voice, anything sounded like innuendo.

Jack couldn’t help it. He winked. “Sure thing, darlin.’ After you polish mine.”

*             *             *
Cassie could always count on Jack for two things: he would come from near or far at the sound of food cooking in the morning, and he went ga-ga over women in workout clothes. Forget lingerie–Jack wanted yoga pants and a racerback top. This morning Cassie brought out the heavy artillery with both his vices: smoothies and spandex.

Revenge, torture–either would do.

Ice clunked around in the blender as she added peach slices, raw almonds, yogurt, and lemon rind. Perfect timing—Jack jogged down the stairs and nearly tripped over Cat, dropped his duffel, and made a beeline straight for the kitchen. He rocked back on his heels, apparently expecting Anne the housekeeper, not Cassie. She made a point of opening the fridge as he entered, as though she hadn’t seen him.

When she turned around, his eyes widened and he visibly swallowed hard.

Unapologetically his eyes roamed from her long swinging pony tail down over her shoulders exposed above a skin-tight cropped tank. His eyes lingered on her navel, watching it contract as she breathed, before scanning up and down her legs once, twice, and again. He wore the expression of a tiger watching a platter of meat through the bars of his cage.

“All the subtlety of an anvil, Jack.”

“I might say the same to you, sweetheart.”

*             *             *
“Bait?” Cassie coughed, then half-shrieked, “Bait? You think it’s funny? Jack—you promised!”

Jack tried to tuck her behind his shoulder and interrupt, but Cassie leaned around him and jabbed an accusing finger at Memphis.

“No more bait, no more turkey shoots! You tell him no, Memphis, or answer to me. Find another way, whatever. He comes home in a body bag, and I come after you.”

She glared, the silence stretched, and she wanted Jack’s buddy to know she meant it, every word. Bad enough that they went willingly into danger, no reason they should play high-stakes games with their lives. No operation was worth that.

Memphis raised his eyebrows and Jack seemed stunned.

Cassie exhaled in a gust and muttered, “I think I just grew a few gray hairs.”

Memphis surprised her with his softened, sympathetic expression. “It takes a strong woman to love a soldier. You’ll get used to it, honey.” He nodded his head, “We always come home.
Don’t worry.”

Jack sputtered then argued, “Oh, we’re not—It’s not–”

“You’re gone, bro. I give it two months, max, and we’ll all be in our dress whites.”

Cassie looked between them, confused, then hacked into Memphis’ thoughts to discern he meant their formal Navy uniforms, for the occasion of her and Jack’s supposed wedding. 

Wow.

Memphis winked at their twin shell-shocked expressions.



Author Bio:

2012 RWA Golden Heart finalist Moriah Densley sees nothing odd at all about keeping both a violin case and a range bag stuffed with pistols in the back seat of her car. They hold up the stack of books in the middle, of course. She enjoys writing about Victorians, assassins, and geeks. Her muses are summoned by the smell of chocolate, usually at odd hours of the night. By day her alter ego is your friendly neighborhood music teacher. Moriah lives in Las Vegas with her husband

Website + blog:  http://moriahdensley.com




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